Highlights From Ryan Walters' 2023 Recruiting Class Press Conference

As National Signing Day comes to a close, Purdue's Ryan Walters has secured his first recruiting class as the Boilermakers' head coach. Walters addressed the media Wednesday evening to discuss his initial recruiting class in West Lafayette.

Here is what Purdue's lead man had to say about the group of newest Boilermakers.

After the departure of Jeff Brohm, Ryan Walters was left with just a week until early National Signing Day when he was hired by Purdue. Walters said his first order of business was building relationships with the 2023 prospects already signed to Purdue.

"I got hired and the first signing day was approaching quickly. I wanted to make sure we got the in-state commitments first, tried to shore up those relationships, getting those relationships and get them sign and maintain their commitment," Walters said.

The Boilermakers were able to maintain 11 commitments that had already pledged to the prior regime at Purdue. Walters' message to all of the original 2023 recruits was the same.

"You fell in love with Purdue for a reason," Walters told the incoming Purdue prospects, "I know that the people in the building changed. None of that can be difficult not that it's good or bad. It's just change is difficult at times. So I thought guys we are committed did a good job of giving us a fair chance and get into the building, getting to know the staff. I think that excitement led to most of them, maintaining their commitment."

When asked what made the 2023 commitments stay true to the Boilermakers, Walters thought there were a variety of reasons they were able to keep a core group from going elsewhere.

"I mean, every individual is different and now there are different reasons. I do think obviously this university is world class in its education. It's facilities are first class for a school in the country. A couple those things with the best fan base in the Big Ten and then obviously getting to know the staff, getting to know me as the head coach and what type of program I want to run and then get to know the staff members. They're egoless. They're highly energetic individuals that know the game of football. So I think all of those things attracted the guys that were already committed," Walters said.

Another point of emphasis for Walters right off the bat was to add a key piece to the quarterback room in West Lafayette, which he and the coaching staff were able to accomplish.

"I thought it was important to go identify and sign a transfer quarterback. I thought we did that. I thought Hudson [Card] was the best quarterback in the portal," he said.

For the first time in his coaching career, Ryan Walters is the leader of a college football program. After being a position coach and/or defensive coordinator since he got into the profession, Walters runs the show in West Lafayette. That is something he thinks helps recruiting become easier for him.

"It's a lot easier actually to recruit as a head coach," Walters said. "It's also easier to sell a young man to come play for you because I'm not trying to get them to come to a university to play for somebody else. So you can sell that. You yourself can be genuine and authentic. Providing a vision for exactly what you want to do is just easier."

Walters knows his responsibilities are heightened as Purdue's head coach and accepts the role he needs to play on the recruiting trail.

"I should be the hardest working recruiter in the building. I have got to maintain a relationship with everybody, on both sides of the ball and at every position. I get to know their families that want to know who they are sending their son to go play for. So my involvement is obviously a higher rate than it was as a coordinator because I was just focusing on the defense," Walters said.

Despite his hard work in recruiting, Walters took a minute to recognize his new staff in West Lafayette that was with him every step of the way over the last month and a half.

"I've had a vision of what I wanted [my] staff make up to look like and I based it off of prior experiences. What was working for us and what failed. The programs that I've been a part of where we had success, we had synergy and chemistry within the staff because it also reaches the locker room," Walters said.

Walters called the cohesion amongst the coaches on his staff a "blessing" as they have worked well together thus far.

"That's been fun for me to take a step back and watch the staff interact with one another. Watch the staff recruit with one another. To see that vision sort of take place it's been a blessing."

Walters had the opportunity to establish his culture and what he wants in a roster during his first two months on the job. Purdue's head coach talked about what kind of players Purdue targeted to fit in with the existing roster.

"We tried to identify and sign guys that love football for football, not really Twitter likes or Instagram followers. All the guys that we have already enrolled hit the ground running in workouts and they're doing overtime workouts and working in the indoor [facility] by themselves," Walters said.

Walters envisions this recruiting class to add to the culture that the existing roster has set and to continue to add to it. When asked what his expectations are for the 2023 class, Walters said:

"To uphold the standard and live up to the expectations that we're holding them to in our program. We identify and recruit guys to help us compete and win championships. So that's the expectation for the guys we're bringing in."

Purdue and the new coaching staff have been appealing to the younger generation of prospects making their way through the recruitment process by being more active on social media. Walters explained Purdue's approach in that department.

"I do think that social media can provide a glimpse of what the program is like. I think it is important to use it the right way and not only promoting the staff and facilities but also highlighting the guys in the locker room. Giving them [current Boilermakers] news and opportunities to promote themselves because those can also be very, very good tools. You've just got to be strategic about what kind of content we're putting out and exactly what our target audience is," Walters said.